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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lean — thin
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. firm — decided
  8. band — a ring
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lean — to bend
  11. spell — letters
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. rest — what's left
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. firm — a company
  17. spell — a short time
  18. perch — the fish
  19. rest — a break
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — not warm
  22. firm — steady
  23. rest — what's left
  24. band — a rubber band

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com